In something of a shocker, Sony Pictures will no longer be collaborating with the Disney-owned Marvel Studios on futureSpider-Man movies. This comes just after it was revealed thatSpider-Man: Far From Homebecame Sony’s highest-grossing movie ever at the box office, which was in no small part thanks to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and the movie’s connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite that, the two studios were unable to come to terms on future collaborations. The question is, what happens now?
According to a new report,Disneywas attempting to negotiate terms on future collaborations with Sony for the past several months, which went to the top of the executive structure at both studios. Ultimately, Disney wanted a co-financing deal, a 50/50 split on future solo Spider-Man movies, given how well bothSpider-Man: Far From HomeandHomecomingperformed. Sony wasn’t interested in giving up such a sizable chunk of their most successful franchise and rejected those terms. Now the partnership that allowed Peter Parker to join the MCU seems to be over.
The report notes that two further Spider-Man movies are in the works, with Jon Watts set to return as director andTom Holland attached to reprise his roleas the titular hero. This doesn’t come as any surprise, given the financial success of the previous entries, and when taking into account the cliffhanger we were left off with inSpider-Man: Far From Home. What’s less clear though is how this is going to work, since Holland’s version of the character is so firmly rooted in the MCU at this point. Sony can’t simply just severe ties to the overall universe.
For the time being, there are far more questions than answers. Disney was said to be getting approximately 5 percent of first-dollar gross on the solo Spidey flicks, which were distributed by Sony, who still owns the rights to the Stan Lee and Steve Ditko creation, as well as his massive rogues gallery of supporting characters. The two studios struck a deal in 2015 which allowed for Spider-Man, as portrayed by Tom Holland, to appear in MCU crossover movies distributed by Disney, while solo efforts would beproduced by Kevin Feigeand distributed by Sony.
Kevin Feige’s track record speaks for itself. TheMarvel Cinematic Universehas grossed $22.5 billion since its inception in 2008. The movies with Spider-Man, in particular, have been especially successful.Captain America: Civil War($1.15 billion),Infinity War($2.04 billion) andAvengers: Endgame($2.79 billion) were all resoundingly successful, with the latter movie now standing as the highest-grossing release ever.
Will Spidey still be able to cross over in future MCU entries on a case-by-case basis? Does this now make it more possible for Tom Holland to appear as Spider-Man in the upcomingVenom 2? Again, so many questions that will surely, but likely slowly, be answered at a later date. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as any further information is made available. This news comes to us viaDeadline.
